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Chambers Got it Wrong

December 14, 2006 permalink

On November 30, 2006 Mary Anne Chambers answered questions in the Ontario legislature about the Auditor General's disclosure of fiscal waste within children's aid societies. Several times she cited the same point in her defense. Her government had enabled the auditor to make the report, allowing the deficiencies to come to public view. In previous governments, there had been no audit, keeping the deficiencies under wraps.

In answer to a question from Howard Hampton, leader of the NDP, Mrs Chambers said:

Here is why the leader of the third party shouldn't really be so proud of being around this place for such a long time: In all of the time that he has been here, he did nothing. He did nothing to shine the light on what kinds of services our vulnerable children and youth are receiving in this province.

Our government, the McGuinty government, is the government that expanded the powers of the Auditor General so that the Auditor General could help us take good care of vulnerable children and youth. You have nothing to feel proud about. You have been around here for too long doing nothing. We're the ones who are acting. You're just going to have to accept that.

From 1990 to 1995 Ontario had a majority NDP government, Mr Hampton's party. We have obtained photocopies of a document titled 1994 Annual Report, Office of the Provincial Auditor, Accounting, Accountability, Value for Money. Here are pages 26-37 (8 megabytes, pdf), giving a report on children's aid for the years 1990 to 1993. Mrs Chambers statement was wrong, and she owes a correction to the legislature, and the people of Ontario (to say nothing of Mr Hampton). How long will we have to wait?

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